Authors: Treasure Hernandez
A Girl From Flint (14 page)
Chapter Thirteen
T
asha, Amra, Mimi, and Honey sat in front of Manolo as he admired their physical appearance. He had labeled his girls “The Manolo Mamis”. There was no doubt in his mind that the women before him were the baddest bitches the game had ever seen, and he patted himself on the back for recruiting such a thorough group. Eventually, he would turn them out and pimp them full time, but for the time being, he was satisfied with the money they were making him just off the hustle.
asha, Amra, Mimi, and Honey sat in front of Manolo as he admired their physical appearance. He had labeled his girls “The Manolo Mamis”. There was no doubt in his mind that the women before him were the baddest bitches the game had ever seen, and he patted himself on the back for recruiting such a thorough group. Eventually, he would turn them out and pimp them full time, but for the time being, he was satisfied with the money they were making him just off the hustle.
Manolo took a liking to Tasha because her looks, street smarts, and natural intelligence put her far above the rest. Honey was coming in a close second, but she was conniving and manipulative. He knew that he couldn't trust her completely.
“Manolo, Amra and I are really in a bind. We need to come up in a major way. This is really life or death for us right now.” Tasha thought of the burden of Ms. Pat's hospital bills.
“I think I got something for you, but the nigga is a murderer, and it's gon' be your ass if you fuck up.”
Tasha looked around to see the reaction of her girls, but she didn't interrupt.
“His name is Keys, but it's gon' be a different type of hustle. You gon' just have to rob the nigga. He ain't caking it like these other dudes y'all been messing with. He ain't gon' be trying to spoil a bitch, nah mean? I know Keys. We came up together, and he got money sitting in a safe in his house.”
Tasha didn't know if she would be able to rob somebody, especially not by herself. “Why can't I just get him to give me the money?” she asked.
“Keys ain't stupid. Nobody touches his money but him. The only way a bitch will ever get money out of Keys is if she's his wife, so you gon' have to do it my way. You gon' still get in good with him, like all the other times. Keys don't trust nobody, so you gon' have to get him to let you in his house. Once he trusts you enough to let you in, it's up to you to find out where the safe is at and get his combination. You gon' have to make this nigga love you. It can't be no funny shit. He can't see you or even hear about you fucking with another nigga, or he gon' drop you. He only fucks with real chicks. So, any dudes you keeping relations with gon' have to stop. Dead that shit now.”
Tasha tried to absorb all the information that Manolo was telling her. The other girls were sitting there listening closely, knowing that at some point, they would have to help her.
“If he got his shit locked down like that, how do you know that I am going to even be able to get the combo to his safe? And even after all that, he ain't gon' never leave me at his crib alone, so when can I even get to the money?” Tasha wasn't afraid to hit a nigga, but she wasn't trying to get caught up in some hot shit either.
“You gon' have to keep your ears and eyes open. He handle a lot of business from home, so you gon' have to find a way. I didn't say that this was going to be easy. But Keys is the only nigga I know who got the kind of money you need. If you ain't with itâ”
“I'm with it,” she said. “How am I going to do this?” Tasha looked at Amra, who was praying that Tasha would do it.
Manolo left the room and came back with a picture of him and Keys. “This is him. Tomorrow night, you are going to go to the Fishbones in Detroit. He will be having dinner there with this woman named Eva. That's the woman that he's seeing now. I've been doing my homework, keeping tabs on the nigga. I've been watching him close. You will make eye contact there, make him interested in you. He has been fucking with Eva for about six months now, so you gon' have to knock her out the picture first. It's going to take him a minute to get back with you, if he even does. If he does, you see him as much as you can. Once you feel that you've gotten close enough to him, and once you've got the combination, get in contact with me, and I'll tell you what to do from there.”
Amra stood up and said, “How long is this going to take, though? We need the money now.”
“It's all on you. The quicker you get the combination, the faster you get paid.”
“Who knows how long it's going to take him to trust her? We need the money now!” Amra yelled in distress.
Honey grabbed Amra's arm and hugged her. “Don't trip. Together, we all got enough money for the hospital to give your moms the surgery.”
“Yeah, and when Tasha hits the safe, we'll just get it back then,” Mimi added.
Manolo got up, signaling that the conversation was done. “Then it's settled. Tasha, you and Honey go to dinner tomorrow at the restaurant at seven o'clock.”
The girls got up and left Manolo's house, unsure about how this would turn out.
“I don't know about this shit. I've heard of Keys before, and he ain't like none of these dudes out here. If he even thinks you trying to play him stupid, he is gonna fuck you up, Tasha,” Mimi warned.
“I know, but he ain't gonna find out until it's too late.”
Honey looked at Tasha with a worried expression. “Look, just be careful, okay?”
Each girl knew that this was the beginning of something serious. They had always used their looks and natural charms to get what they wanted; now they were getting straight grimy and taking what they needed.
I hope this doesn't blow up in my face. I hope everything goes okay. It has to go okay. I need to get this money for Ms. Pat. If I don't do this, then she is going to die.
Tasha thought, anticipating the next day's events.
Tasha thought, anticipating the next day's events.
The next night, Tasha put on a short, gold Versace dress that fit her body tightly at the top and flowed loosely at the bottom. She applied a bronzer to her face, put mascara on her eyelashes, and lip-gloss on her lips. Amra was still asleep, so Tasha quietly crept out of the room and walked into Mimi's and Honey's room. Mimi was sitting on the bed, talking on her phone, and Honey was putting her makeup in her purse. “You ready?” Tasha asked.
Honey nodded her head, and they headed out of the door.
The girls took Tammy's car to Detroit. They both were silent on the way there, their nervous energy causing them to be at a loss for words.
After an hour-long drive, they pulled up to the restaurant. “You nervous?” Honey asked.
Tasha nodded and gave a weak smile. “Yeah, but it's time to put my game face on.”
The girls got out of the car and walked into Fishbones as if they were big money like the other patrons in the five-star restaurant. They sat down at a candlelit table. The atmosphere was perfect for what they were trying to do.
Tasha looked around the restaurant, trying to find Keys, but he was nowhere to be found. The girls ordered their meals and impatiently ate their dinner.
Keys walked into the restaurant with a light-skinned woman.
“It shouldn't be that hard to snatch him from her,” Honey commented.
Tasha looked at the tall high-yellow woman. She appeared to be around twenty-eight and wasn't all that special in Tasha's eyes. She wasn't ugly, but she wasn't a supermodel either. She looked like an average woman. “How am I supposed to make him notice me?” Tasha asked.
“Just wait,” Honey replied. “You don't want to seem too eager. He needs to think you are meeting by chance.”
Tasha nodded her head and finished eating her food. It was fun having dinner in an expensive restaurant with one of her best friends.
Honey looked up from her plate and noticed that Keys was staring over at them. “Don't look now, but I think you grabbed your boy's attention,” she stated.
Tasha smiled, making sure that it was one of the best smiles she ever displayed.
Honey laughed quietly. “Got him! Girl, his eyes are glued over here.”
Tasha looked up too, and Keys subtly winked his eye at her. She didn't expect for him to be so debonair. His style was intriguing in itself, and on top of his looks, he was a perfect ten.
“Damn!” Honey said, referring to Keys' looks. He was dark-skinned, with a body to die for. He had a dimple in his left cheek, and the demeanor of a thug. He was sexy in every sense of the word.
Tasha watched as Keys' date got up and went to the bathroom.
“Excuse me, waiter,” Honey said, signaling the waiter to come over to their table. When the waiter came over, Honey asked, “Can you deliver a note over to that man's table right there?”
The waiter responded, “Certainly.”
Tasha used her napkin and wrote,
I don't usually do this. 810-785-0810. Tasha
I don't usually do this. 810-785-0810. Tasha
Tasha slipped the waiter a twenty-dollar tip and watched as he delivered the note to Keys' table. When he got it, he read it and looked at Tasha, who raised her wineglass to him, and he raised his back.
Tasha took a sip of her wine, and then paid the bill as Keys' date came back to the table. Tasha and Honey walked past the couple and out the door. Tasha knew that Keys was watching her, so she turned around and gave him a gorgeous smile before she left.
Three days days passed before Tasha received a phone call from Keys. “Yo, this Keys. I sort of met you the other night at Fishbones.”
Tasha smiled to herself, relieved he had finally called her. “Oh, I remember. I didn't think you would call.”
Keys laughed softly. “Nah, you were intriguing. I had to call you. I'm trying to see what you're about.”
Tasha had to admit to herself that he was charming.
“I want to see you,” he said.
She was shocked that he wanted to meet face to face. The way that Manolo had described him, Keys seemed like he was hard to get close to.
“Okay, you tell me when and where.”
“Next Monday. I want to take you out for the day.”
Tasha agreed and hung up the call.
Monday came, and Keys picked Tasha up. She walked out of the house looking radiant. She had on a black Dolce & Gabbana pants suit, and the jacket opened just below her breasts, exposing her flat stomach and wide hips. She had on silver Manolo Blahnik shoes and jewelry from Tiffany's. She knew that she would have Keys open on just her appearance alone.
When Keys saw her, he was positive that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.
Tasha walked over to his black Mercedes Benz and got in. She knew he was getting money, because not many people in Flint whipped a Benz. “Hi,” she said sweetly when she sat down in the passenger seat.
Keys nodded his head and drove off.
That first day, he took her everywhere. They spent the day together, talking and laughing about everything. He was softer than she expected, and was glad that Manolo was wrong. They saw each other every day after that, and she enjoyed spending time with him.
Only a couple of weeks had passed, but she and Keys were cool. They had fun together, and Tasha made him forget about the things that were bothering him.
“I need a favor,” he said to her as he watched her eat the salad she'd ordered.
She looked up and said, “What's that?”
Keys pulled out two tickets to Chicago. “Come away with me for a while.”
Tasha looked at the tickets, and then confusion spread across her face. “What's âa while', Keys? How long?”
“A month.”
Tasha laughed. “I can't go away with you for a month, Keys. I have a salon to run. And my friends, I don't . . . I don't know. I just can't. I barely know you.”
Keys reached across the table and grabbed Tasha's hands. “Tasha, I'm leaving town for a little while. I want you to come with me. I'll give you whatever you want. I know we just met, but I don't want to leave you behind. I want you to come with me so that I can get to know you better.”
Tasha knew that if she didn't go to Chicago with Keys that he would forget about her, and she would be replaced just as easily as she had replaced the woman before her. She needed to prove to him that she was loyal. If he trusted her to go out of town with him, then when they got back, he would trust her in his home.
“Okay, I'll go. When do we leave?”
Keys smiled and sat back in his chair. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!” Amra exclaimed out loud when Tasha delivered the news to her friends.
“Damn! Why he got to go to Chicago, anyway?” Mimi asked.
Tasha shrugged her shoulders. “I don't know, but I'm going. If I don't, then there is no way I'm gonna be able to get the money from him.”
Honey stood with her hands on her hips. “Well, let's get you packed.”
“I don't have to pack. He's going to buy me clothes when we get there.” Tasha smiled.
“Damn! You got it like that?” Mimi exclaimed.
“The nigga's nose is wide the fuck open.” Tasha walked out of the room. She remembered the reason why she was doing all this. She pulled out her cell and called Ms. Pat.
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